CLASP Community Landscape Archaeology Survey Project Sixth Annual Report 2010 Alan Watson Chair of the Trustees 1 Introduction by the Chair of the Trustees – Alan Watson............................. 3 Report of Secretary to the Trustees .................................................................. 4 Auditor’s report: ......................................................................................................... 5 Finance Reports ........................................................................................................... 6 Archaeological Director’s Report 2010 .......................... 10 Reports from the Organising Committee ......................... 13 Report from Acting Chair of the Organising Committee............................... 13 Report by the Secretary of the Organising Committee ................................ 14 CLASP Membership Report 2010......................................................................... 15 Reports from Participating Organisations ................16 Blisworth Heritage Society................................................................................... 16 Brington History Society....................................................................................... 16 Bugbrooke History Group ...................................................................................... 16 Daventry Local History Group .............................................................................. 17 Flore Heritage Society........................................................................................... 17 Friends of Alderton Monuments (F.O.A.M.)...................................................... 17 Harpole Heritage Group ......................................................................................... 18 History of Tiffield Society (H.O.T.S.)............................................................... 18 Northamptonshire Artefact Recovery Club [NARC], ..................................... 19 Norton, Northampton Portable Antiquities Search Team (NNPAST)........ 19 Towcester and District Local History Society................................................. 19 Weedon Bec History Society................................................................................20 Whitehall Roman Villa and Landscape Project ..................................................20 2 Sixth Annual Report for the Year Ending 31st August 2010 The Trustees Introduction by the Chair of the Trustees – Alan Watson Once again another year has passed by and we are still looking for a building that would be suitable to store all our artefacts from our digs, field walking and test pits. We have agreed that this would be a “store” rather than a “museum” open to the general public. We do not have the man power or finances to staff such a facility. Finding such a store is still our prime objective. We are following up various leads and it is hoped that something may come from them. If anyone knows of a building that might suit, either long term or short term, please do not hesitate to contact us a.s.a.p. I would like to thank all the Trustees, the members of the Organising Committee and all other groups and individuals associated with CLASP for their help and advice over the last 12 months. I would like especially to put on record my thanks to Ruth Downie, Trustee & Trustee secretary, for all her hard work over the past 5 years. Ruth is moving to the West Country very soon and so she will not be standing for re-election in either role. Ruth will be sorely missed. Dave Hayward, Secretary of the Organising Committee, for all his work in successfully applying for grants towards the purchasing of a Magnetometer. There is still more funding needed to reach our target of £8,000. More of this will be found in Dave’s report. We have applied for a grant to reprint the Whitehall Roman Villa training manual as the Clasp Training Manual. We are still waiting to hear yes or no. CLASP has been nominated for the Heritage Alliance Heroes Award (see http://www.heritagelink.org.uk/2010/06/23/heritage-alliance-heroes-award-2010/), by the Community Archaeology Support Officer for the Council for British Archaeology. When notifying us of this nomination she said “I have heard on the grapevine that there are quite a few nominations from all types of heritage areas (e.g. transport heritage) so I was keen to get some archaeological representation in. The important thing with the nominations is that they represent voluntary involvement in heritage, and is held in high regard – so I thought CLASP would be an ideal candidate!” This year we have welcomed three more societies to CLASP. They are: The Northampton Artefact Recovery Club The History of Tiffield Society FOAM - Friends of Alderton Monuments This brings our society membership to 13. Our Strategic Planning Document is at last moving towards “completion”. I commend this report to you as a true record of the work undertaken by CLASP during the past year. If you have any questions about the report, they may be raised at the Annual General Meeting. Unfortunately I am unable to attend the AGM but Nick Adams has agreed to take the chair for this meeting – thank you Nick. Alan Watson Chair of the Trustees August 2010 3 Report of Secretary to the Trustees Who are the Trustees? CLASP has eight Trustees who were appointed at the 2009 AGM: Alan Watson – Chair Angela Evans – Treasurer Stephen Young – Archaeological Director Ruth Downie – Secretary Nick Adams Jeremy Calderwood Sandra Deacon Tony Kesten Their period of office expires at the end of the 2010 AGM but they are eligible for re-election. New Trustees will be appointed at the AGM and there is no limit to the number appointed or reappointed. If you are interested in becoming a Trustee please contact Alan Watson on 01327 340470 or by email: alan(at)alanwatson.demon.uk Trustees must be a member of CLASP or the nominated representative of an organisation that is a member of CLASP What do the Trustees do? The Trustees meet four or five times a year… to advance the education of the public in the subject of Archaeology, in particular but not exclusively, in West Northamptonshire (Extract from CLASP Charity Constitution) to manage the business of the Charity and review the work undertaken by the CLASP Organising Committee to consider requests for financial aid/or expenditure from the CLASP sub-groups. to keep aware of the various sources of funding available and to make applications where possible. Ruth Downie Secretary to the Trustees September 2010 4 Auditor’s report: 5 Finance Reports 6 7 8 A breakdown of these figures is available from the Secretary on request. 9 Archaeological Director’s Report 2010 (also published in CLASP newsletter) We are moving towards the completion of Phase 2 of the Heritage Lottery funded scheme Local People: Local Past. The total grant of £25,000 for the two projects was our largest donation and has enabled us to initiate and pursue the recording and characterization of the locality for the Roman period. In the process it has also helped to develop within our community an archaeological infrastructure and network capable of responding to some of the pressing challenges facing the preservation and interpretation of the past. The project has demonstrated that there is a role for local people in the investigation of the archaeology of their area and that an inclusive approach can be very effective. A direct benefit of the work has been the construction of a far more detailed understanding of the material and structural remains of the locality and the creation of a hypothetical model to explain their development during the Roman era. It has also established the hypothesis that locality is a keystone in the analysis of Romanization and that this phenomenon can be profiled archaeologically. This is a crucial breakthrough for the way research will be conducted in the future and will affect the nature of the theories scholars promote based on the evidence becoming available. Over the last five years this funding has allowed us to investigate a significant sample of the Romano-British settlement across nineteen parishes between Daventry, Northampton and Towcester. We have undertaken complete or partial intensive field survey or reconnaissance of over twenty sites. It has enabled us to pursue a coherent and ground breaking methodological approach to fieldwork that is capable of engaging with the aspirations of current archaeological agendas. By integrating and utilizing geophysical, field walking and metal detecting survey in a systematic way we have assembled a bank of evidence and statistical data which has been seldom rivaled in any archaeological sphere. However this doesn’t mean that we have exhausted the potential for new fieldwork and recording. The pending acquisition of our own geophysical equipment and the recruitment of new societies to CLASP indicate a growing interest in a proactive involvement. This means that potentially, thanks to new and existing links, in the future we could be exploring in varying degrees of detail upwards of fifty sites across thirty parishes associated with the Roman Landscape. This is virtually unprecedented in Roman Britain and is comparable to only a few long term research projects and professionally based projects. I have no doubt that this will enable us thoroughly to characterise and compare the Roman settlement and landscape of our locality in relation to both the hinterland of Bannaventa and Lactodorum. It will also help us